The moe genre of anime and I tend to not get along well. For those who don’t know, the “moe” genre of anime is a subgenre of the slice-of-life genre, normally featuring four or more absolutely adorable girls doing whatever is on the menu at the time, otherwise known as not having a plot. Some examples are Lucky Star and K-On. I can never get into any of the anime within this genre because, at least for slice-of-life comedies, there has to be some sort of draw other than the comedy and watching girls whose eyes take up half their face take part in “real-life situations” to get me interested in the anime, otherwise it gets boring and tedious. To give you an idea, I tried watching the first episode of Lucky Star and practically fell asleep. However, if it were a slice-of-life anime with some sort of story that happened to have moe elements…that’s an anime I’ll watch, and an anime that fits this bill rather nicely would definitely be Kanon. To give you guys some background, there are two versions of this anime: one from around 2002 and another from 2006. I’ll be reviewing the newer version, because it’s the only one that really got anywhere in terms of popularity. Both anime were based off of the same visual novel done by Key, a company known for making fantastically emotional anime based off of said visual novels. Some other Key anime include Angel Beats!, Clannad, Air, and most recently Little Busters. Well, now that I’ve dragged this introduction on long enough, sit back, relax, and read on as I review the emotionally heart-wrenching anime, Kanon 2006.
The Setup:
Kanon takes place in a small snowy town in Japan, where a young man named Yuichi Aizawa has just moved. He had been to the town several times before when he was younger, visiting his cousin Nayuki and his aunt Akiko. When he arrives, however, he realizes that he had forgotten all of his memories about the town when he was younger, besides the fact that he’d been there, and that’s where the story begins. To be perfectly honest, however, this setup is not what really draws people to this anime; it would most definitely be the characters.
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| Kanon takes place during the winter in a small village in Japan |
The Characters:
Even though I love most of the characters in this anime, I will admit that a lot of them are basically written better in Clannad; in other words, the character archetypes are pretty much the same in both anime, though they have varying personalities. The ironic thing is, the Kanon visual novel came out around five years beforehand and the Kanon anime came out before the Clannad anime. I guess you could interpret Clannad as being the “redone” version of Kanon, but I digress. Personally, I thought that the hardships in Kanon hit me harder than those in Clannad, even though overall I think Clannad is the better anime. So, without further ado, let’s move on to the characters themselves. Yuichi…is…kind of a jerk. During the drama scenes he’s fine, but otherwise, he’s basically throwing insults around. I will give him points for having a personality, but the personality they gave him was not the most desirable. Next there’s Ayu, the overly childish character of the bunch. I can see some people thinking that she’s irritating, but I personally thought she was incredibly likable. I thought her childish antics were pretty funny most of the time, and her innocence kind of rubbed off on me a little bit. She also invented the famous phrase, “U-go!”, which can only be truly understood if you watch the anime. Now, moving onto my favorite character in the entire show, Shiori. No, I’m not just saying that because it’s ShadowACS’s opinion, I legitimately favor her over everyone else. She is probably one of the more interesting characters, as she claims she has been out of school with a common cold. Gee, I wonder if that’s a complete and utter lie? When you do find out the reason, though…for me, that was the saddest moment in the show. Speaking of sad moments, let’s move on to our next character, Makoto. She’s basically a prankster who holds a grudge against Yuichi for an unexplained reason with a carefree personality. Keep an eye out for…you know what, I’m not going to say anything. Next there’s Mai, my second favorite character. She’s a very silent girl who stays behind after school to hunt invisible demons that only see knows about, and that’s all I’m going to say about that. I will say that the episode, "A Strange-Looking Waltz" (episode 12), which centers around Mai, is probably one of my favorite anime episodes ever, mainly because of how it is presented. I don’t want to go into detail about it, just watch the anime. Finally, there is Nayuki, Yuichi’s cousin who was honestly just a side character. Apparently in the visual novel, she was really important, but I’m not reviewing the visual novel. Anyway, Nayuki is a very likable character of whom I wish got more screen time, but you get what you get.
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| Yuichi |
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| From left to right: Mai, Makoto, Nayuki, Ayu, and Shiori |
Story:
The story of Kanon focuses around Yuichi interacting with one of the girls, growing closer to them, and then discovering a dark and/or depressing secret about them as the anime goes into “cry your eyes out” mode. And let me tell you; these moments are depressing. I mean, really and truly tragic. Just thinking about it kind of makes me want to cry, and no other anime has really done that to me. Enough about that, so the story basically repeats itself with this formula four times, and each time Yuichi remembers something about his past in the town.
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The best parts of Kanon are when the emotions of the characters really shine |
Animation and Sound:
Produced by Kyoto Animation, Kanon looks gorgeous. It really captures the snowy atmosphere of the small village with some truly beautiful backgrounds that most anime today wish they had. The character designs are kind of unrealistic, but I’ll let that pass seeing how this is a moe anime. The animation is fluid and solid, unless it decides to go for something I like to call, “comedic choppiness”, in which the animation is purposefully choppy to emphasis comedy, but even then it’s used rather rarely. The soundtrack of Kanon isn’t the most memorable, but it certainly holds its own when listening to it during the show, so kudos for that. As for dub vs. sub, I rather liked the dub for Kanon. I thought it was reasonably well-acted and it worked, but I have heard complaints that the characters don’t sound “cute” enough. Well, here’s my counter for that statement: If you’re a moe fan, watch the sub. If you like dubbed anime, watch the dub. Finally, you’ll probably like the opening song for the first few episodes, but then after a while you’re most likely going to have a hard time listening to it due to all of the heart-breaking moments this anime offers.
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| Animation is top-notch, as expected from Kyoto Animation |
Final Judgment:
Now, you might be wondering, “If this review seems to be holding this anime in high regards, then why isn’t it higher on your favorites list?” Well, unfortunately, I do have a problem with this anime, that problem being the comedy. Yes, at times, it is rather funny, but for the most part it’s basically Yuichi either making fun of the girls (more often than not Ayu) or taking advantage of them (again, mostly Ayu), which made him seem really unlikable at times, which is a huge problem when telling a story. But, when you get right down to it, Kanon 2006 is a great show with fantastic characters that hit every part of your emotional spectrum, the happy and the sad. Overall, I give Kanon 2006 a 3.75 out of 5, and a recommendation to watch it. Just…have an extra box of tissues ready, because you will probably need it.
ScoreCard:
Funimation Link: http://www.funimation.com/shows/kanon/anime ScoreCard:
Further Recommendations:
Clannad
Talk about emotional anime. Let me warn you that if this anime hasn’t been spoiled for you already…dear Haruhi, maybe this isn’t the best recommendation. But it can’t go unnoticed how similar these two anime are, though I would argue that Clannad is better overall, so if you want another anime that is really good at creating likable characters and being emotional, check this one out.
Angel Beats!
This anime definitely has a more fast-paced plot than Kanon, but that does not in any way make it less emotional. This is a Key anime, through and through, so if you want a little bit of everything (even though it can get a little confusing at times), watch this anime.
Book review next week! Here’s the hint: In the Before, everything was normal. In the After, everything changed.
See you then!
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